Suzie Key Tima

An Unfair Advantage is a condition, asset or circumstance that puts you in a favorable business position. And yes, we all have unfair advantages.

Ash Ali, Hasan Kubba

The main idea of that book is that life is fundamentally unfair. Everyone has unfair advantages and if you want to succeed you need a combination of work on the level playing field and good use of your unfair advantages.
The authors proposed what they call the MILES framework:

• Money
• Intelligence/Insight
• Location/Luck
• Education/Expertise
• Status

Let’s use me as a case study.

1. Money:
   I don’t come from money. My family is not rich, and we’ve struggled in the past to make ends meet. This is not an advantage for me.
   
2. Intelligence/Insight:
   I am not a genius, and I don’t think my intelligence will be what sets me apart from everyone else.
   
3. Location/Luck:
   I don’t believe in luck, but this one is attainable to most people. If you go to more places, meet more people, and do more things outside of your comfort zone then you are more likely to encounter ‘luck’. This is something I work on by attending events, writing short blogposts, etc.
   
4. Education/Expertise:
   This is my unfair advantage. I have a bachelor’s degree in engineering and I’m working toward a master’s degree of science in Civil Engineering. I think this sets me up to get a decent job and interact with other people in my industry who can help me get ahead and build a good career.
   
5. Status:
   There might be some level of status associated with simply being an engineer and if there is, then I can benefit from this as well. But, I don’t have any really innate status associated with myself.

Understanding your unfair advantage can help you use it to its fullest potential to achieve your goals. Now that I know my education is my thing, I can go deeper into cultivating knowledge, deepening my expertise, and sharpening my skills. I can also work toward developing some other advantages on my own or surround myself with people who have those other advantages.

I encourage you to reflect on these advantages and figure out how to take advantage of them.

The Success Equation: Fair Play + Unfair Advantages

What’s the value of understanding Unfair Advantages?

To determine the path of least resistance, you must know what your unfair advantage is.

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